Online Youth Mental Health First Aid Course

Early intervention is absolutely crucial in reducing the possible lifelong impact of mental ill-health on adolescent development, so having adults who are trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid is important.

This course is for anyone who teaches, works lives or cares for young people aged 8 - 18.

By training your staff in Youth MHFA you will:

• Equip staff and students with the appropriate language to be able to talk about mental health and ill health in an appropriate and de-stigmatising way
• Help your staff to feel supported and confident in their ability to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health in young people and respond appropriately
• Enable students to access support early, limiting the impact of mental ill health on their development
• Create a climate where those with a long-term mental health issue can receive the support they need to flourish

Course Structure

The Online Youth Mental Health First Aid course is an online version of the face-to-face Youth Two Day Mental Health First Aid training. It is a blended learning course with 4 instructor-led live sessions to attend virtually as well as guided, individual learning tasks to complete online. Individual learning tasks will be based on a combination of videos, workbook activities and reading. This can be completed at your own pace in advance of each live session.

The total time commitment is around 15 hours and is very similar to the two day course but it is spread out over the course of a week.

 

Online Youth MHFA Course Structure

Our open programme of courses that you can book onto as an individual or a small group have different options to suit your own needs best.

The live sessions run from 10:00-12:30pm, and are led by one of our approved MHFA England Instructors and are interactive, involving presentation of slides, video clips, activities, discussion and case studies, which you will explore as a group to embed learning.

• Option 1 - Live sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday with Wednesday as a rest day. 
  Having a break from live sessions on the Wednesday gives more time to process the content from the Monday and Tuesday sessions and prepare the individual learning before the third live session.

• Option 2 - Live sessions over 4 weekdays in a row. 
• Option 3 - Weekends. Live sessions run on Saturday and Sunday on two consecutive weekends

You will be given a log-on to the new MHFA England Online Learning Hub and should plan to log on at 09:30 on the day of your first live session. If you have any difficulties with the technology we will have someone available by phone to help you sort them out before the session starts at 10:00.

You need to complete activities 1 – 7 prior to the Live Session 1. Once a live session has taken place, the next set of activities you need to complete will be made available to you.

---

Course Content

The online Youth Mental Health First Aid course qualifies you as a Youth Mental Health First Aider, giving you:

• An understanding of young people’s mental health and factors that affect wellbeing
• Practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues
• Confidence to reassure and support a young person in distress
• Enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgemental listening
• Knowledge to help a young person recover their health by guiding them to further support
• Ability to support a young person with a long term mental health issue or disability to thrive
• Tools to look after your own mental wellbeing

The youth MHFA course covers the following content across 4 sessions:

Session 1 - Introduction Individual learning (1 hour 15 minutes): Introduction to the Online Youth Mental Health First Aid course and the Online Learning Hub Activity 1: Why Youth Mental Health First Aid? Activity 2: What is ALGEE?  Activity 3: What is mental health? Activity 4: Mental health and stigma  Activity 5: Mental health quiz: Impact of mental health Activity 6: Risk and protective factors for mental health  Activity 7: The Stress Container  Live session (2 hours 35 minutes): Introduction to the course Outline of live session 1, the value of Youth Mental Health First Aid Introduce ALGEE  Recap what mental health is  Recap the Mental Health Continuum  Stigma  Recap why Youth Mental Health First Aid is important  Recap risk and protective factors  The Stress Container  The Frame of Reference

Session 2 - Depression, anxiety and self-care Individual learning (1 hour 15 minutes): Activity 8: Your Stress Container Activity 9: Your Frame of Reference Activity 10: What is depression? Activity 11: What is anxiety?  Live session (2 hours 10 minutes): Introduction to live session 2 Recap of homework after live session 1 Recap depression  Signs and symptoms of depression in a young person  Recap anxiety  Signs and symptoms of anxiety in a young person  ALGEE for depression and anxiety in a young person  ALGEE for depression and anxiety, action 1  ALGEE for depression and anxiety, action 2-5 Self-care and close

Session 3 - Suicide and psychosis Individual learning (1 hour 20 minutes)  Activity 12: Adolescent brain development Activity 13: About suicide Activity 14: Suicide risk factors Activity 15: What is psychosis? Activity 16: Lived experience of psychosis Activity 17: ALGEE for psychosis Live session (2 hours 5 minutes) Introduction to live session 3 Recap suicide Explore the impact of suicidal feelings ALGEE for suicidal crisis Practice non-judgemental listening skills Recap psychosis Recap warning signs and symptoms of psychosis Recap ALGEE for psychosis

Session 4 - Self-harm, recovery and action planning Individual learning (1 hour 35 minutes) Activity 18: What is self-harm? Activity 19: What are eating disorders? Activity 20: Resilience Workbook activity 7: My action plan for using Youth Mental Health First Aid (completed after live session)  Live session (2 hours 25 minutes) Introduction to live session 4 Recap self-harm, the self-harm continuum Warning signs of self-harm in young people ALGEE for self-harm Recap eating disorders ALGEE for eating disorders Applying MHFA to family and carers; the Recovery Tree Evaluation forms and close

It is important to recognise that this course covers material that you may find emotionally triggering. Your self-care and your safety throughout the course is very important. You should consider identifying someone who could potentially support you during or after the course if you need it.

---

Qualification Details

This online training will qualify you as a Youth Mental Health First Aider and you will receive a MHFA England certificate on completion of the course. There are no pre-requisites to attend but you should have a strong interest in the subject.

Q. What is the difference between the Youth MHFA Two Day course and the Online Youth Mental Health First Aid course?

The Online Youth Mental Health First Aid course has been developed to ensure that our proven Mental Health First Aid training can continue to be delivered where social distancing measures may prevent face-to-face delivery. We have taken the time to tailor the learner experience to suit the online environment and are confident that the Online Youth Mental Health First Aid course delivers the same learning outcomes as the face-to-face Youth MHFA Two Day course.

It is not a replacement for our face-to-face classroom based Youth MHFA Two Day course. However, it will be a permanent and powerful alternative option for delivery. This course can be delivered where classroom learning may not be possible, or when clients or learners would prefer the alternative accessibility and flexibility of an online course delivering the same learning outcomes.

---

Booking a Course

Our public online course dates are listed below. You can book and pay online directly or reserve your place and request an invoice.

If you would like to book a private online group course for staff at your workplace please contact us by phone on 0207 193 2608 or email: info@reactfirst.co.uk to schedule the live sessions on times and dates suitable for you.

The next courses with public places
Jan - Tues 12, Wed 13, Tues 19 & Wed 20 16:00-18:30	Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning (venue details)	£230.00 +VAT
Feb - Mon 8, Tues 9, Wed 10 & Thurs 11 10:00-12:45	Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning (venue details)	£230.00 +VAT
March - Mon 1, Tues 2, Thurs 4 & Fri 5 10:00-12:45	Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning (venue details)	£230.00 +VAT
March- Mon 29, Tues 30, Wed 31 & April 1 10:00-12:45	Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning (venue details)	£230.00 +VAT
May - Tues 18, Wed 19, Thurs 20 & Fri 21 10:00-12:45	Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning (venue details)	£230.00 +VAT
June - Mon 7, Tues 8, Wed 9 & Thurs 10 10:00-12:45	Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning (venue details)	£230.00 +VAT
July - Mon 5, Tues 6, Wed 7 & Thurs 8 10:00-12:45	Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning (venue details)	£230.00 +VAT

The next courses with public places (more courses)
Jan - Tues 12, Wed 13, Tues 19 & Wed 20 16:00-18:30	£230.00 +VAT
Venue: Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning
Feb - Mon 8, Tues 9, Wed 10 & Thurs 11 10:00-12:45	£230.00 +VAT
Venue: Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning
March - Mon 1, Tues 2, Thurs 4 & Fri 5 10:00-12:45	£230.00 +VAT
Venue: Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning
March- Mon 29, Tues 30, Wed 31 & April 1 10:00-12:45	£230.00 +VAT
Venue: Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning
May - Tues 18, Wed 19, Thurs 20 & Fri 21 10:00-12:45	£230.00 +VAT
Venue: Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning
June - Mon 7, Tues 8, Wed 9 & Thurs 10 10:00-12:45	£230.00 +VAT
Venue: Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning
July - Mon 5, Tues 6, Wed 7 & Thurs 8 10:00-12:45	£230.00 +VAT
Venue: Online - 4 live, instructor-led sessions + self-learning